Ka-Ching

Ka-Ching is a 3rd person, family-friendly shooter that was announced on September 8, 2008 shortly after an in-world update. Since launch it has proven to be one of Kaneva's most popular features and frequently draws a steady stream of both new and seasoned users.

Contents

Ka-ching! is a FREE multi-player,
third personshooting game played exclusively inside the 3D World of Kaneva.
The Goal:

Team up with your friends to find, collect, and deposit the most coins (Ka-ching!), dodge foam darts, and check your opponents (send them back to the starting point) by firing foam darts.

Ka-Ching Arena Sign-up

The Teams
Up to 8 players are divided into two teams: red and blue. Assemble a team with your Kaneva friends, or join one in progress. There is a minimum of one player on each team required to start the game.

The Game
From the Ka-ching! lobby, walk up to the Arena Manager (the Avatar behind the counter) and press the TAB key.

To join a game in progress: Click Join Game.
To create a new game: Click Create a New Game. Game Managers will then have the choice of naming the lobby and selecting a map (Curlable)Office" and "Octagon" are available), choose either The Office or The Octagon arena.) Players who start a new game will be automatically appointed "Game manager" (A title which can be subsequently handed to any player once they have joined the game) giving them the ability to boot players, lock the game (Making it impossible for new players to join), and start the game once all players have clicked the "ready" button.

A Ka-Ching store has been implemented in the game's lobby, offering Ka-Ching related armor that offers only cosmetic changes (And has no impact whatsoever on gameplay).

The store maintains regular traffic and offers all items for less than 1,000 Rewards per piece. All purchasable clothing currently comes in two colors (Red or Blue) and can be purchased by either gender.

A standard game of Ka-Ching lasts 5 minutes or until one team collects 50 coins. The objective is solely for each team to collect as many coins as possible and deposit them in the map's center.

The maximum number of players 8 with a minimum of 2 players required to start any game of Ka-Ching. Currently there is only one gametype which has every member of both teams struggling to collect and deposit coins while making use of weapons firing foam bullets. The purpose of these weapons are to "Check" enemy players which is achieved by firing on them until forcing them to "Bounce" (The in-game equivalent of death). A player is bounced once their health bar is emptied by enemy fire. Upon bouncing the defeated player will be treated to a 5 second respawn timer, thus disabling them from assisting their team in anyway. Players spawn with the base weapon ("Stinger", a blue stylized semi-automatic rifle that inflicts minimal damage on opponents) though they can attain two more powerful weapons ranging from the middle-class "Sweeper" (High rate-of-fire with medium damage but short range) to the mighty "Suckerpunch" (The most powerful weapon in game, direct hits kill players immediately). All weapons except for the Stinger have limited amounts of ammo that can be only replenished by walking over the same weapon.

Since it's inception: Ka-Ching has been greeted with a user-created gametype commonly referred to as "Coin Race", wherein the shooting aspect of the game is removed in favor of allowing users to simply collect coins. These games have earned massive popularity among new users in that they allow time to better acquaint themselves with all three maps, though some veteran Ka-Chingers commonly see these games as a lackluster means of attaining Ka-Ching Fame and often remark on the general lack of difficulty in Coin Race games. In the June 30 2009 Kaneva update a feature was installed that allows players to deactivate the use of weaponry in games, making Coin Race and No-shooting games the first gametype to be added since the original "Collect, dodge, shoot" format. A small group of players also enjoy games which prohibit the collection of coins.

In-game powerups and weapons are available to any and all players and spawn periodically in set locations. In addition to the weapons, two unnamed powerups are available, one replenishing lost health and another offering invulnerability to enemy fire for a limited amount of time.

Coins also spawn periodically around the map and are the only means of scoring in typical games. Teams need 50 coins to win and have to collect a minimum of 3 to be able to deposit them. Every 3 coins generates a bonus coin which adds to your total collected (Collecting 3 coins would add one bonus coin, while collecting 6 would add two bonus coins, making the minimum number of coins deposited 4 while still requiring only 3 to score). Players can collect as many coins as possible (Even in excess of 50, which is the maximum score in any game of Ka-Ching). Coin "Drop Zones" are always located in the center of every map and are the only place coins can be dropped.

Ka-Ching fame (Independent from World and Dance Fame) was implemented in the March 10, 2009 update for Kaneva, allowing players the chance to attain Ka-Ching-related titles, clothing, and items. Like Dance Fame, Ka-Ching fame features 50 levels with items and titles earned for every five levels completed. Multiple ways to collect Ka-Ching fame have been added as well, offering ways to collect fame for both first-time users and constant Ka-Chingers. Ways to earn Ka-Ching Fame are listed below according to packet:

One-Time Packets (Can only be earned once)

First Ka-ching Game - Play one full game of Ka-ching

First Ka-ching Win - Assist your team in winning one game

First Ka-ching Coin Scored - Score once while playing

First Ka-ching Check - Check your first player

Daily Packets (These methods can only be completed a set number of times before ceasing in rewarding fame)

Ka-Ching launched featuring two maps offering both open and cramped level design. Available at launch was the stylish, modern, and team-segregated Office and the rustic and multi-layered ruins in Octagon.

The Office is a medium sized map in the general shape of an octagon. The map's outer layer is designated by both "Red" and "Blue" zones wherein a similarly-colored team will spawn. The outermost layer simulates recreational areas in the office, with couches and water coolers placed throughout the zones. The "core" of the map can be accessed through doorways in the eastern and western sides of the map or through offices at the northern and southern straights on each map. This "Center" is the resting place of both coins, powerups/weapons, and the Drop Zone. Weapons and powerups are also placed in two identical corners both to the front and back of each team's spawn, and are connected to every other part of the map via hallways that also boast vast amounts of coins. The hallways also feature one windowed room per zone that allows for surveillance of the map's core and well-placed fire on the center.

Office is notoriously cramped in most instances and has proven to be Ka-Ching's most popular map. It is the simplest in terms of layout and takes mere moments to understand the design, making it useful for new players.

Octagon (As it's name states) is designed in such a shape and contrasts the modern and streamlined design of Office with a more ancient and open area for playing. Octagon's first floor is near entirely open, leaving for limited amounts of cover and more prolonged firefights. There are four staircases on the main floor and "jump jets", a perk featured exclusively in Octagon that allows players to be lifted rapidly upwards by a stream of compressed air. There are numerous alcoves and small hallways on the second floor, typically closed off at some length in by ruins. The "Drop zone" is located on a platform directly above the map's center and is accessible only through the second floor or jump jets on the ground floor.

In keeping with Octagon's more ancient look: some of the stairways are inaccessible through walking, and certain platforms and walkways sport large holes or structural damage. Rumors conclude that this map was originally known as "Dig Site" in its early stages of testing. Octagon has thus far shown disappointing results in terms of traffic, and despite being one of only two maps available at Ka-Ching's launch it is rarely played by most seasoned Ka-Chingers. Most uses of Octagon tend to be for more check-oriented games (See [|Gameplay] ) due to it's open, yet misleading design.

Announced with its launch on March 10, 2009, the Food Court is easily the largest map in Ka-Ching history. Taking place in a mall, the Food Court (Like Office) spawns each team on once side of the map, with coins located atop tables that line the area. A small gazebo-esque structure guards the area direct center of each team's spawn, and often supports weaponry in addition to two multi-level offices on the eastern and western sides of the map.

Food Court quickly rose as a contender to Office in terms of popularity, offering both the sprawling open firefights featured in Octagon and the confined close-quarters combat in Office. On March 13th 2009, after only 3 days of being operational, Food Court was removed from the list of available Ka-Ching maps for unspecified reasons. It was reinstated on the list of playable maps in the June 30, 2009 update.